


switch

by orphan_account



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Tags will be updated as we go along, barista!chenle, barista!jungwoo, basketballer!yukhei, cameos of loona and nct members, kahei (viian) is yukhei's sister, kahei and hyunjin are dating, pls read the notes, slowburn?, some chapters are inspired by certain some things, volleyballer!jungwoo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-06 21:16:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14656398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: smhs' volleyball team and basketball team have been arguing over training areas since both teams existed. when kim jungwoo and wong yukhei get appointed as the new captains of their own teams, will they be able to switch things around and make peace exist between both sports teams?





	switch

**Author's Note:**

> smhs stands for 'sm high school'  
> ihs stands for 'international high school'  
> when yukhei and kahei talk to each other, it's in cantonese (unless stated)  
> when yukhei and kun talk to each other, it's in chinese (unless stated)  
> when the foreigners talk to the korean characters (eg. renjun to heejin) it's in korean (unless stated)  
> enjoy!

smhs' basketball team and volleyball team had always argued over training areas. the teams wouldn't have argued over such a matter, but with the school not giving any fucks about the problem, the matter simply worsened and was carried on for years. be it the volleyball boys' team or girls' team, the volleyballers would always argue with the basketballers about training areas. having one of their trainings on the same day and the same time was simply the worst thing on earth, having to argue about who had control over the training area. the volleyballers wanted level 1 of the sports hall to train, and they were always refusing to let go of it. some times, the basketball captain would just relent to the request and lead the team up to level 2, saying that  _arguing with the volleyballers made no sense_. but other times, the basketball team would be taking over the first level instead. this of course leads to the glares and sulky faces of volleyballers as they make their way up and down the stairs to level 2 of the sports hall.

it was almost halfway into the year of 2018, and examinations were coming up soon. club and team activities had to be paused then resumed after all students took their papers, and it meant the deciding of new captains for the sports teams. after going through a hefty amount of interviews, the teachers in-charge had hand-picked out those who they thought would be able to live up to their role responsibly and lead the team to further heights and claim more trophies. 

according to smhs rule for clubs and teams, those of age 18 and higher had to step down from their leadership roles if they held one, and pass it on to the students who were either 16 or 17. in the basketball team, the teachers normally appointed the 17-year-olds to be captains, not wanting to let the 16-year-olds take the position when they were only in their second year of team activities. they normally served up to 18 years old and stepped down before examinations, and had this small period of time for handing over their roles. so here was the basketball team, gathered in the first level of sports hall, but.. with the volleyball team too. it was a huge mess, considering the amount of members the volleyball team held. both girls and boys team were here, and you could just triple the amount of the noise the basketball team to know how noisy it was. 

taking the chance to speak while the volleyball team was getting gathered, the teacher in-charge stood in front of the current basketball team, excluding the two captains and the seniors who were standing at the sides. jaehyun and ten who were the captains of the basketball team for years 2017 and 2018 were beside the teacher, ready to graduate from the team with the other seniors and hand their roles over. kun was in the choir club of smhs, so that left yukhei to stick to yuta, one of the seniors. they were pretty close, and yuta was standing at the left side where he chose to sat. the japanese basketballer looked at him and asked yukhei if he was confident of becoming the next basketball captain, since yukhei had been interviewed by the teachers to be the next captain. definitely not, yukhei told yuta. he had pretty much messed up the interview that day and became a huge mess in front of those teachers, giving them answers filled with bullshit. 

"so," the teacher speaks and his voice commands silence from both teams. it was meant for the basketball team, but the volleyball team had heard it and went silent as well, which was unusual considering the fact that the teachers knew about the arguments over training areas. yukhei diverts his gaze onto the teacher, crossing his legs. after receiving silence, the teacher continued, "as all of you know, our captain jaehyun and vice-captain ten will be stepping down. the seniors at the side will step down along with them too, but with this action comes another. i'm sure everyone knows that new captains would have to be appointed and those in year 3 had went through interviews. after much consideration and thinking, the teachers have decided to choose these two students as our new captains. if we call your names, please come up forward." 

yukhei relaxes after the speech, gaze switching to somewhere else. he knows it's either going to be mark or donghyuck for the captain, considering their skills and leadership roles from certain events in school previously. jeno had great potential to lead the team too. during that moment of silence, he only waits for the teacher to announce the two names that aren't his, but things took a turn expectedly.

"wong yukhei of class 3-3 and lee jeno of 3-2." the teacher says aloud, and yukhei is still in his daydream mode that was activated during the wait, and he didn't realise he had been chosen as one of the captains until yuta tapped him on his arm, ushering him forward with pride. after all, yukhei was one of yuta's favourite juniors and vice versa. jeno scoots next to yukhei once they're in front and the two senior captains congratulate them. yukhei flashes genuine smiles with a hint of surprise evident and thanks them. "now, yukhei will be the new captain of the basketball team for years 2018 and 2019. jeno will be the vice-captain, working alongside him and i expect to see a better team. it is not only the captains' responsibilities but also all of the basketballers' responsibilities. for the new students, please respect and listen to them. the second years, please do lead an example. and those third years who aren't picked for captain, please also lead the team alongside yukhei and jeno. as seniors, you all should show the other members what discipline and a good example is." 

jaehyun smiles at yukhei and the latter smiles back, happy but still surprised that he was chosen as captain. the teacher tells the two new captains to go back as the seniors make their farewell speech, saying their final goodbyes to the rest of the team. yukhei sits down beside jeno, congratulating the new vice-captain and the latter does the same, laughing softly. jaehyun was about to make speech when there was a huge noise given from the volleyball team to them, and they all whip their heads to take a look.

.. 

jungwoo sits in the middle of male volleyballers, returning the pinches his junior jaemin gives him. they are at the 'handover ceremony', a commonly seen thing in most clubs and teams. the girls were on the other side and his best friend hyunjin could be seen laughing with jiwoo and chaewon, slapping each other. the captains were standing beside the two teachers, each in-charge of each team. taeyong and johnny were joking with the second years while sooyoung and haseul talked to the first years. the teachers were discussing about things at the back and everyone took the chance to talk. some volleyballers weren't here yet and they had to wait for everyone to gather, before they could start the ceremony.

there was a booming voice from the basketball team and most of them whipped their heads to look over, and understood that the team was about to start their ceremony. some of them carried on watching while some went back to resume their chatting, and jungwoo watched for a while to the point where two guys stood up and went to the front, and he looked away as their teachers had cleared their throats. the four captains moved away from their teams and stood beside the teachers.

"today will be our handover ceremony. yes, we have not interviewed anyone but by voting and observing within the teachers themselves, we have shortlisted four students to be our captains for both teams. with effect from now, they will take over the volleyball team and be in charge. without beating around the bush, i will now announce the four students. please come up when you hear your names." the teacher speaks, and jungwoo only shifts a little in his seat. no one knows who will be the new captains, but jungwoo honestly thinks it would be the ones with great skills.

after a second of silence, the other teacher speaks up for the teams, "our new captain for the girls' team will be kim hyunjin of class 3-4 and kim heejin of class 3-1 will take the role of the vice-captain. as for the boys' team, kim jungwoo of class 3-4 and huang renjun of class 3-4 will be the captain and vice-captain respectively. congratulations." jaemin pinches jungwoo once the teacher finishes announcing the new captains, and jungwoo finds for renjun, one of his close friends before they make their way to the front. from the other side, hyunjin smiles at him brightly and he does too. 

hyunjin and jungwoo had been good friends since entering high school and being in the same team. renjun was also one of their close friends, and joined the volleyball team just like them. together, the 3 of them survived the first 2 years of high school together and now, they all become captains of the volleyball teams. taeyong hugs jungwoo tightly, as if the latter was a lemon and lemon juice could be squeezed out of him. "my baby jungwoo is now captain, i'm so proud," taeyong says and squishes jungwoo's cheeks. taeyong always had this habit of treating juniors like his own children and loved to hug & squish their cheeks. some times, he could be spotted trying to squish johnny's cheeks as well. too bad that the vice-captain was taller than the captain. 

after letting go of jungwoo, taeyong gives the same treatment to renjun, and jungwoo laughs when he hears the muffled squeak of renjun. johnny comes over to hug him as well, congratulating him and telling him he knows that he will do well as the new captain of the volleyball boys' team. on the girls' side, haseul and sooyoung are pulling hyunjin and heejin into their embraces as well, ruffling their heads. they all pull apart only after a while as the teachers tells the new captains the generic things, on how they should lead and be good examples to all the other volleyballers. once that boring stuff finished, the new captains had to receive a ball from the graduating captains. it was a special thing in their club, where the seniors would serve a ball over to the new captains and the new captains had to receive it. 

there was already the net prepared and the seniors went over to one side, with the third years on the other side. renjun looked at jungwoo for a while and laughed quietly before the teachers gave the signal for the seniors to serve the balls. and there they went, serving the balls at the same time. jungwoo moved back to receive the ball, as taeyong put in a lot of power in serving and he caught it within seconds smoothly, smiling at the older as the ball landed in his hands. renjun, heejin and hyunjin received it too and the volleyball team roars loudly, which gives them looks from the basketballers. jungwoo still keeps on his smile as he looks behind too, making eye contact with one of the basketballers and from his vague memory, he guesses it's the new basketball captain. at the exact moment, his smile fades away. no, he doesn't like the basketball team. none of the volleyballers like the basketballers and vice versa. 

looking away, the teachers congratulate the new captains and send them back to sit down as the graduating seniors make their speech, and from listening closely, jungwoo understood that the senior basketballers had started their speeches as well, but he only focuses on the four seniors in front of him.

..

"yukhei, congratulations! i'm so glad you became captain. i just knew you would." yuta approaches the new captain after a group of second years move away and yukhei laughs and thanks the japanese basketballer, letting himself be pulled into a hug. "i would really miss seeing you play, you know. i remembered that one time you had so much energy you ended up scoring the most, and the coach had praised you. really glad that such a talented guy like you will be leading the basketball team. can't wait to come back after papers and see how the basketball team has grown under your hands. do well and make everyone proud, alright? and always find me." yuta continues after pulling away and yukhei tells the senior he's praising him too much, but yuta says he's being serious. the new captain doesn't see himself as the best and believes that everyone else is good as well.

he is whisked away to somewhere else when jeno pulls him aside to talk to him about some stuff that he can barely comprehend, but he just nods along. it sounds like something about opening the equipment room, and jeno says they can discuss later through text. seniors would pull jeno away too. yukhei looks over and sees that the volleyball team is celebrating, and he fixes his gaze on the guy with the brown hair, laughing and conversing with few of the volleyballers. they had made eye contact just now by accident and yukhei had witnessed the whole process of the guy's smile fading away. he was probably the guy he was going to argue with when training resumes.

jaehyun and ten take over his attention after a while when they come to talk to him, and yukhei momentarily forgets about that guy. he speaks to the graduating captains, laughing once every in a while and only says goodbye when they choose to leave, as the teacher had dismissed them. he grabs his bag and stays back to wait for his sister to get back from the art room. kahei was having her last art club session before she stepped down, as she was a year older as yukhei. the basketball captain walks up and sees kahei walking out of the room at the same time. "i thought you would go home first, why did you wait?" kahei speaks in cantonese once she reaches him and yukhei explains about the handover ceremony.

"you get chosen as the captain? oh my god, i'm so proud of my little brother!" kahei stretches her arm out to ruffle his head, since her younger brother was much more taller than him and it was hard to even talk to him these days without looking up. "i had hear from jaehyun about it, but he made himself so unsure even that i was unsure you would be the captain. but hey, you made it and i'm proud!"

the guy laughs and thanks his older sister, asking his question, "are you going back home? mom and dad had went overseas for the business trip.. so.. i will be going to a café to study anyways. are you going to meet your friends or something?" kahei nods, telling him that she was meeting her classmates at the library to study. yukhei nods too, and walks her to the library then bids goodbye, making his way to a café nearby their house.

..

a lot of seniors crowd around the new captains and jungwoo tries his best to hug and thank every single one of them, letting out a breath when they disperse, leaving the four captains alone. "jungwoo," hyunjin simply says his name and he goes over to hug his best friend, while renjun hugs heejin. "i'm so happy that we're both captains of the volleyball team now. i really can't wait to start on this journey with the three of you as my closest friends. you guys are simply the best." 

"i know, i can't wait too. i already felt from the start that you were a potential captain and it really happened. i'm really happy as well! heejin would be so excited to design the volleyball tee for this year and renjun would want to help design the jersey. there's really a lot of fun in being a leader, huh?" jungwoo says, and he can feel his best friend nod then pull away. they talk for a while and then heejin and renjun joins them, exchanging more hugs and words until their conversation starts turning into something crazy and funny, and all four of them start laughing. it started with heejin, who joked about the design of the volleyball tee then hyunjin and renjun adding in weirder things, and him suggesting crazy ideas. jungwoo could feel someone's gaze on him, but it didn't linger for long. must have been that basketballer, he thought. the tall one with the same hair colour as him. 

"shall we go out for dinner?" renjun asks and the two female captains nods, but jungwoo pouts. "you guys can go ahead without me. i have a shift today, and i can't just leave like that. need that extra cash to save for future use, you know? i promise i'll go out with you all next time!" the boys' captain says, and heejin hits him jokingly but nods, assuring him that it's okay. the group of leaders talk for a while more before the teachers tell them they are dismissed and jungwoo bids goodbye to all of them and gets his bag, rushing out of school to the café for his shift. he would probably be scolded if he was late.

..

chenle looks up from wiping the tables as jungwoo enters the café and he laughs upon seeing the dishevelled older. jungwoo tells him not to laugh as he makes his way to the staff bathroom to switch into the uniform from his volleyball tee and shorts, putting on the apron. the younger chinese boy had already finished wiping the tables as jungwoo exited the bathroom, going to put his bag in the back. 

the café was still pretty empty at 4PM, and jungwoo checks his phone to reply his messages as he asked chenle about school. the younger chinese boy was a second year at ihs, and he worked at the café to earn some extra cash as well. they had gotten along pretty well and had most of their shifts together. chenle was a part of the choir club at ihs and jungwoo had went over to attend one of the school's performances before, and he must say they're really good. "what did you do today?" jungwoo asks as he replies to the group chat for the new volleyball captains, telling his friends to have fun without him. they had snapped pictures of them going to his favourite barbecue place to provoke him, but with the warm scent of café latte here, it didn't work. 

"i basically did my work during recess then went to the choir room to practise a few songs, then studied here in the staff area while yeri and yiyang were in charge. got my notes all down in a short period though. how about you?" chenle replies as he puts out the new cakes, arranging them neatly. jungwoo looks up from his phone and replies, "glad to hear you got your notes down. i did my work during my break at the council room as well then went over to the handover ceremony for the volleyball team, got appointed as the new captain of the boys' team." 

jungwoo was also a student councillor, joining the council itself since his first year in smhs. he had joined the executive committee in his second year, and his fourth year seniors had mentioned to him about them overhearing the teachers wanting to promote him in the executive committee. but with the current captain position he held, he was already happy and hoped that the teachers would give the position to other councillors who were equally good. 

"congratulations!" chenle squeaks out in his dolphin voice and hugs the older, and jungwoo laughs and thanks the second year as he hugs him back. chenle was simply an adorable and diligent junior in his eyes, and jungwoo enjoyed his shifts with the second year. not only did chenle know how to entertain him, he was a good person and always helped him when he needed it. "you're going to be such a good captain. we aren't in the same school, but i know already. you're also a student councillor, right? you would get so much leadership points!"

the older nods, smiling. taking a leadership role not only came with great responsibilities but they also achieved leadership points which would aid in helping them increase their final marks. it was an advantage and many people wanted it to help their grades. for jungwoo, he wanted to immerse himself in this joy of being able to lead the team and help, but also feel achieved and honoured. "anyways, let's go get ready. customers can come strolling in anytime soon." jungwoo states, putting his phone away and standing up. he checks on the cups and machines, cleaning the working counter another time.

soon enough, a few customers stroll in, a mix of adults and high school students. they don't make much noise but pull out their laptops or phones to either study or look through social media as they dig into a piece of cake or take a sip of their coffee. chenle handles the dessert as jungwoo makes the drinks, adding the extra whipped cream a female customer had asked for. a short line had formed behind her and jungwoo tried to work as efficient as possible, handing her drink and thanking her, putting on a bright smile.

that smile faded away when the next person came in line.

it was that basketball guy he made eye contact with from just now. how did jungwoo recognise, you ask? the guy was still wearing his basketball tee and jungwoo had already memorised his face in the past period of time. "hi, what would you like?" he said bluntly, staring right into the basketballer's eyes. the taller guy only laughed, replying, "is this the attitude change all volleyballers have? looking so kind and angelic previously but now they're showing their devilish side to us just because we are from the basketball team. i want a green tea frappucino by the way, with no whipped cream."

the basketballer guy presses the exact amount of money in his hands and jungwoo scowls silently, entering the amount into the register and then slotting it in, heading to the back to make the green tea frappucino the stupid guy wanted. he didn't even have to say that, did he? that just put him into a bad mood. if that guy stayed here, jungwoo was probably even going to be more mad. he was basically the human embodiment of disturbance. 

knowing that the customers can't see them as they worked, jungwoo added extra whipped cream on purpose, even sprinkling some chocolate sprinkles on the top and scribbling the word "dumbass" on the plastic cup itself, putting on a fake smile on as he makes his way back to the counter, handing the drink to the guy. "here's your green tea frappucino, thank you for coming! next!" he says, smiling silently when he sees the basketballer guy frowns. no, he's not about to remake that drink. luckily, the lady behind squeezes into the small space and makes her order, leaving yukhei with no choice but to go sit at one of the tables. when jungwoo is behind and notices yukhei staring at them as he sipped intensely through the straw, he rolls his eyes.

he really is the human embodiment of disturbance.

the next few hours are just yukhei sitting at that table, looking up a few times at jungwoo as he studies, looking through the website hyunjin had sent over to the class chat a few days ago. after all, he was someone who wanted to ace his examinations and beat kahei too. jungwoo walks around quickly when more people rush in to the point he even manages the dessert section while chenle goes to restock the plastic cups and the mugs. with his headphones connected, he can barely hear anything but the beat of the music as he works on his notes. yukhei stays there until the sky turns dark, still typing on his notes when most people have left and chenle who he referred to the shorter guy was already clearing the table.

"oi, we're closing. get out." jungwoo approaches him, but he doesn't respond and his fingers fly over the keyboard, typing the final words of his notes. the music aids him in not being able to listen to jungwoo and the volleyball captain decides to just remove those annoying headphones in one go after seeing the scene. the basketball captain looks up as his music had been disrupted, and jungwoo repeats his words again, spitting them out one by one.

rolling his eyes, yukhei saves his notes as he finishes typing the word and closes his laptop, stuffing it into his bag. "it's not like i would stay here anyways. who would want to be with you? i came here to study only, dumbass." yukhei snickers, grabbing his headphones back from jungwoo. he reads the barista's nametag and realises his name is kim jungwoo, and rolls his eyes again. the barista pouts a little and crosses his arms, "you really are the human embodiment of disturbance, aren't you?"

"no, it's you, kim jungwoo."

yukhei laughs as he makes his way out of the café as the last customer and he can hear jungwoo letting out a whine as he exits. chenle grimaces and goes over to jungwoo, patting the older on the back, "it's okay. it's not good to get mad. you could go get your revenge next time i guess. i saw his name written on his jersey. it's yukhei. number 25. you should go find him online or ask around. well, not suspiciously. that's the main point." 

jungwoo smiles and thanks chenle, although he doesn't really know what is he going to do with it. probably ask kahei? they had a close junior-senior relationship and kahei goes over to his class during breaktimes or after school some times to talk. they had meet each other in the student council, and had big bonding chances. of course, they took that chance and bonded well. the older girl had mentioned about having a younger brother, but never really mentioned much details. 

..

after he separated from chenle, jungwoo texted kahei.

**junguwu, 10.02PM**

do yk someone called yukhei? 

**viiankh, 10.02PM**

hey jungwoo, why?

**junguwu, 10.02PM**

nth, just asking

**viiankh, 10.03PM**

oh i see. anyways, i have someone to introduce to you. meet me at my locker at 7 tomorrow!

**junguwu, 10.03PM**

thnk u, u too!! (: see u tmr noona

 

jungwoo wonders who kahei wants to introduce him to. probably one of her juniors or friends that she's trying to pull away from the singles club. after all, kahei was dating hyunjin despite the age difference. he just hopes it's not yukhei, that human embodiment of disturbance.


End file.
